Long reach vacuum robot with dual wafer pockets

ABSTRACT

A robotic handling system includes a transfer chamber and a robot arm disposed within the transfer chamber with an end effector having a longitudinal axis. The end effector includes a first wafer pocket defined within the end effector at a first location and a second wafer pocket defined within the end effector at a second location along the longitudinal axis. A first chamber, coupled to the transfer chamber, is reachable by the first wafer pocket and by the second wafer pocket. A second chamber, coupled to the first chamber, where the first chamber is positioned between the transfer chamber and the second chamber, and the second chamber is reachable by the first wafer pocket but not the second wafer pocket.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/445,550, filed Jun. 19, 2019, which is hereby incorporated in itsentirety herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the use of dual waferpockets on an end effector of a long reach robot arm.

BACKGROUND

A chip manufacturing facility is composed of a broad spectrum oftechnologies. Cassettes containing semiconductor substrates (e.g.,wafers) are routed to various stations in a facility where they areeither processed or inspected. Semiconductor processing generallyinvolves the deposition of material onto and removal (“etching” and/or“planarizing”) of material from substrates. Typical processes includechemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD), physicalvapor deposition (PVD), electroplating, chemical mechanicalplanarization (CMP), and etching, among others.

One concern in semiconductor processing is substrate throughput.Generally, the greater the substrate throughput, the lower themanufacturing cost and therefore the lower the cost of the processedsubstrates. In order to increase substrate processing throughput, batchprocessing chambers have been developed as have been systems that employmore than one end effector on a robot arm within a multi-chamberprocessing system.

In semiconductor processing and other electronics processing, platformsemploy the use of robot arms to transport objects such as the wafersbetween process chambers, from storage areas to process chambers, fromprocess chambers to storage areas, and so on. Customers using theseplatforms seek capability to have a greater number of process steps, andthus higher throughput of processed substrates, without damaging thevacuum robot, which employs a robotic arm, from over use.

SUMMARY

Some of the embodiments described herein cover a processing systeminclude a robot arm with an end effector having a longitudinal axis, therobot arm having a reach of at least 45 inches. In other embodiments,the robot arm may have a reach of about 39 inches, a reach of about 50inches, or reaches with other lengths. The end effector includes a firstwafer pocket defined within the end effector at a first location alongthe longitudinal axis, where the first wafer pocket has the reach of atleast 45 inches (or 39 inches or 50 inches, depending on theembodiment). The end effector includes a second wafer pocket definedwithin the end effector at a second location along the longitudinalaxis, where the second wafer pocket has a second reach that is less than45 inches (or less than 39 inches or less than 50 inches, depending onthe embodiment). The end effector is capable of concurrently carrying afirst wafer in the first wafer pocket and a second wafer in the secondwafer pocket.

In some embodiments, a method includes extending a robot arm with an endeffector having a first wafer pocket and a second wafer pocket. Thefirst wafer pocket is located at a distal end of the end effector alonga longitudinal axis and the second wafer pocket is located at a secondposition on the end effector along the longitudinal axis. The method mayfurther include picking up, at the first wafer pocket of the endeffector, a first wafer from a load lock. The method may further includedelivering the first wafer to an interim station positioned between theload lock and a transfer chamber that includes the robot arm. The methodmay further include picking up, at the first wafer pocket, a secondwafer from the load lock while concurrently picking up, at the secondwafer pocket, the first wafer located in the interim station. The methodmay further include concurrently placing the first wafer on a firstsubstrate support of at least one processing chamber and the secondwafer on a second substrate support of the at least one processingchamber.

In some embodiments, a robotic handling system includes a transferchamber and a robot arm disposed within the transfer chamber. The robotarm includes an end effector having a longitudinal axis, the robot armhaving a reach of at least 45 inches, at least 50 inches, or at least 39inches. The end effector includes a first wafer pocket defined withinthe end effector at a first location along the longitudinal axis, wherethe first wafer pocket has the reach of at least 45 inches, at least 50inches, or at least 39 inches. The end effector additionally includes asecond wafer pocket defined within the end effector at a second locationalong the longitudinal axis, wherein the second wafer pocket has asecond reach that is less than 45 inches, less than at least 50 inches,or less than at least 39 inches. The robotic handling system may furtherinclude a plurality of additional chambers coupled to the transferchamber. Each additional chamber is reachable by the first wafer pocketand the second wafer pocket. The robotic handling system may furtherinclude a plurality of processing chambers within reach of the robotarm, where each additional chamber is positioned between the transferchamber and one of the plurality of processing chambers. Each of theplurality of processing chambers may be reachable by the first waferpocket but not the second wafer pocket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereferences indicate similar elements. It should be noted that differentreferences to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are notnecessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at leastone.

FIG. 1A illustrates a top view of an example long reach robot arm withone end effector, according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates a top view of an example long reach robot arm withmultiple, independent end effectors, according to one aspect of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1C illustrates a top view of an example long reach robot arm withdual end effectors, according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 2A illustrates a simplified top view of a portion of a processingsystem that employs a quad processing chamber with the long reach robotarm of FIG. 1B, according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 2B illustrates a simplified top view of a portion of a processingsystem that employs two quad processing chambers and the long reachrobot arm of FIG. 1C, according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate a process flow method using the long reach robotarm of FIG. 1B within the portion of the processing system of FIG. 2A,according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 4A illustrates a simplified side view of a load lock and a coupledinterim station in which a first wafer is retrieved from the load lock,according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 4B illustrates the simplified side view of the load lock andinterim station of FIG. 4A in which the first wafer is transferred tothe interim station.

FIG. 4C illustrates the simplified side view of the load lock andinterim station of FIG. 4A in which the first wafer and a second waferare jointly picked up by the end effector, according to one aspect ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified top view of a processing system havingmultiple processing chambers, according to various aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6A illustrates a process flow method of the processing system ofFIG. 5, according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 6B illustrates aspects of the process flow method of FIG. 6A from aside view, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an additional process flow method of the processingsystem of FIG. 5, according to one aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method for using an interim station and adual-wafer pocket robot arm to pick up two wafers loaded into a loadlock chamber, according to one aspect of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments described herein are related to systems and methods fortransporting semiconductor substrates, referred to herein as wafers forsimplicity, two at a time on an end effector of a long reach robot armof a vacuum robot. The vacuum robot may be part of a larger substrateprocessing system used to process wafers. In particular, embodimentsenable the use of the long reach robot arm to transfer the two wafers ontwo wafer pockets defined within the end effector of the long reachrobot arm, where the two wafer pockets are situated along a longitudinalaxis of the end effector.

Some embodiments further employ interim stations, which are positionedbetween a transfer station that includes the vacuum robot and theprocessing chambers, to facilitate use of the end effector of the robotarm to pick up unprocessed wafers from a load lock, pick up processedwafers from a processing chamber, deliver unprocessed wafers to aprocessing chamber, and/or deliver processed wafers to the load lock.For example, a first wafer may be temporarily delivered by the endeffector to the interim station followed by the end effectorconcurrently picking up the first wafer in the interim station and asecond wafer, which is still in the load lock, and delivering the firstand second wafers to a processing chamber. The interim stations are alsoused to help load and retrieve the wafers from processing chambers insome embodiments.

Embodiments described herein that employ the long reach robot arm havingone or more end effectors include various advantages over the currentvacuum robots in the art. These advantages include the ability to carrymultiple wafers, e.g., at least two wafers on dual wafer pockets of eachend effector. The wafer pockets may be multiplied beyond two, forexample, to carry more than two wafers. The wafers may therefore pick upand set down at least two wafers at a time. This increases substratethroughput without a corresponding increase in stress on the vacuumrobot.

Accordingly, it should be understood that embodiments discussed hereinwith reference to two wafer pockets also apply to more than two waferpockets, which may all be arranged (e.g., may be collinear) along a sameaxis or may be arranged along two or more axes. In an embodiment withmore than one axis, there may be a first pair of wafer pockets (side byside) where the first wafer pocket is illustrated herein and a secondpair of wafer pockets (side by side) where the second wafer pocket on anend effector is illustrated herein. In this way a first and a secondwafer pocket may oriented along a first longitudinal axis and a secondand a third wafer pocket may be oriented along a second longitudinalaxis that is generally parallel to the first longitudinal axis.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C illustrate top views of different embodiments oflong reach robot arms that include end effectors having a first waferpocket and a second wafer pocket. FIG. 1A illustrates a top view of anexample long reach robot arm 100A with one end effector, according toone aspect of the disclosure. More specifically, the robot arm 100Aincludes an upper arm 104A, a middle arm 106 operatively coupled to theupper arm 104A, and an end effector 110 operatively coupled to themiddle arm 106. The end effector 110 includes a first wafer pocket 112and a second wafer pocket 114 attached to the end effector 110 anddefined within the end effector 110 along a longitudinal axis defined bya length of the end effector 110. Each the first and second waferpockets 112 and 114 (as well as other wafer pockets described herein)include a slight depression having a nominal center where the wafer orsubstrate will rest during transport in embodiments.

In embodiments, the long reach robot arm 100A further includes a drivemotor assembly 115A that has a drive motor operatively coupled to theupper arm 104A, to actuate the long reach robot arm 100A around an axisof the robot arm. The driver motor is to cause the end effector 110 toat least one of: a) concurrently deliver the first wafer and the secondwafer to respective destinations that are approximately aligned alongthe longitudinal axis; or b) concurrently withdraw the first wafer andthe second wafer from respective locations that are approximatelyaligned along the longitudinal axis.

In some embodiments, the robot arm 100A has a reach of at least 45inches. In some embodiments, the robot arm 100A has a reach of at least50 inches. In some embodiments, the robot arm 100A has a reach of atleast 39 inches. In other embodiments, the robot arm 100A may have areach of a different distance. The robot arm 100A includes a first waferpocket 112 defined within the end effector 110 at a first location alongthe longitudinal axis. The first wafer pocket 112 may have a first reachthat may be approximately the same as the reach of the robot arm (e.g.,a reach of at least 45 inches, a reach of at least 50 inches, a reach ofat least 39 inches, or another distance of reach). The end effector 110may further include a second wafer pocket 114 defined within the endeffector 110 at a second location along the longitudinal axis. Thesecond wafer pocket 114 may have a second reach that is less than thereach of the first wafer pocket (e.g., a reach of less than 45 inches, areach of less than 50 inches, a reach of less than 39 inches, and soon). The end effector 110 may be capable of concurrently carrying afirst wafer in the first wafer pocket 112 and a second wafer in thesecond wafer pocket 114, as will be illustrated.

FIG. 1B illustrates a top view of an example long reach robot arm 100Bwith multiple, independent end effectors, according to one aspect of thedisclosure. More specifically, the long reach robot arm 100B includes anupper arm 104B operatively coupled to a first end effector 110A, asecond end effector 110B, and a third end effector 110C (each of whichmay be referred to as blades in embodiments). The long reach robot arm100B may further include a drive motor assembly 115B that includes adrive motor and gears for each respective end effector. In other words,the drive motor assembly 115B may independently operate, using a controlcircuit, each of the first end effector 110A, the second end effector110B, and the third end effector 110C.

In embodiments, the first end effector 110A includes a first waferpocket 112A and a second wafer pocket 114A situated similarly asdiscussed with reference to the first and second wafer pockets 112 and114 of the end effector 110 illustrated in FIG. 1A. The second endeffector 110B includes a third wafer pocket 112B and a fourth waferpocket 114B situated similarly as discussed with reference to the firstand second wafer pockets 112 and 114 of the end effector 110 illustratedin FIG. 1A. The third end effector 110C includes a fifth wafer pocket112C and a sixth wafer pocket 114C situated similarly as discussed withreference to the first and second wafer pockets 112 and 114 of the endeffector 110 illustrated in FIG. 1A. In this way, the long reach robotarm 100B may carry up to six wafers on the six wafer pockets of itsthree end effectors or blades. Note that a wrist member may bepositioned between the upper arm 104B and each end effector, e.g.,respectively, a first wrist member 116A, a second wrist member 116B, anda third wrist member 116C. The wrist members 116A-C may be rotatableabout an outboard end of the upper arm 104B in embodiments andfacilitate movement between the upper arm 104B and each respective endeffector. For simplicity, the wrist members may be referred to as partof the end effector herein.

FIG. 1C illustrates a top view of an example long reach robot arm 101with dual end effectors, according to one aspect of the disclosure. Morespecifically, the long reach robot arm 101 may include two separaterobot arms, each of which may be articulated separately or jointly movedtogether. In embodiments, the long reach robot arm 101 includes a firstupper arm 104C, a first middle arm 106A operatively coupled to the firstupper arm 104C, and a first end effector 110D operatively coupled to thefirst middle arm 106A. In one embodiment, the first end effector 110Dincludes a first wafer pocket 112D and a second wafer pocket 114Dsituated similarly as discussed with reference to the first and secondwafer pockets 112 and 114 of the end effector 110 illustrated in FIG.1A. Note that a first wrist member 116D may be positioned between thefirst middle arm 106A and the first end effector 110D.

With further reference to FIG. 1C, the long reach robot arm 101 mayinclude a second upper arm 104D, a second middle arm 106B operativelycoupled to the first upper arm 104D, and a second end effector 110Eoperatively coupled to the second middle arm 106B. In one embodiment,the second end effector 110E includes a third wafer pocket 112E and afourth wafer pocket 114E situated similarly as discussed with referenceto the first and second wafer pockets 112 and 114 of the end effector110 illustrated in FIG. 1A. In this way, the long reach robot arm 101may carry a total of four wafers on its first and second end effectors.Note that a second wrist member 116E may be positioned between thesecond middle arm 106B and the second end effector 110E.

In one embodiment, the long reach robot arm 101 further includes amating gear 120 around which proximal ends of the first and second upperarms 104C and 104D can attach and freely rotate. The long reach robotarm 101 may further include a first motor drive assembly 115C tooperatively couple the first upper arm 104C to a first end of the firstmiddle arm 106A and a second motor drive assembly 115D to operativelycouple a second end of the first middle arm 106A to the fourth endeffector 110D. The first motor drive assembly 115C and the second motordrive assembly 115D may work cooperatively to extend and withdraw thefirst end effector 110D along a straight line. The long reach robot arm101 may further include a third motor drive assembly 115E to operativelycouple the second upper arm 104D to a first end of the second middle arm106B and a fourth motor drive assembly 115E to operatively couple asecond end of the second middle arm 106B to the second end effector110E. The third motor drive assembly 115E and the second motor driveassembly 115F may work cooperatively to extend and withdraw the secondend effector 110E along a straight line.

FIG. 2A illustrates a simplified top view of a portion 200 of aprocessing system (e.g., a robotic handling system) that employs a quadprocessing chamber with the long reach robot arm 100B of FIG. 1B,according to one aspect of the disclosure. In various embodiments, theportion 200 of the processing system includes a transfer chamber 205 andat least one processing chamber 215 coupled to the transfer chamber 215.The processing chamber 215 may be a quad processing chamber as shown, ormay be another type of processing chamber, e.g., with one wafer station,two wafer stations, or another number of wafer stations. A quadprocessing chamber is a substrate processing chamber that is able toprocess four wafers at a time. In alternative embodiments, the portion200 of the processing system may include one or more additionalprocessing chambers (which may or may not be quad processing chambers)and/or may include other robot arm designs that include dual waferpockets as described herein. For example, the long reach robot arm 100Bmay be replaced with long reach robot arm 100A (FIG. 1A) or long reachrobot arm 101 (FIG. 1C) in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, although optional, the portion 200 of theprocessing system includes an additional chamber 220 positioned betweenthe transfer chamber 205 and the processing chamber 215, where theadditional chamber 220 is reachable by the first wafer pocket 112A andthe second wafer pocket 114A of the long reach robot arm 100B. Theadditional chamber 220 may be or include a wafer station for temporarilyholding wafers in an embodiment. The additional chamber 220 may also bea degas chamber and/or perform other functions on wafers before they areinserted into the processing chamber 215 and/or after they are removedfrom the processing chamber 215. A degas chamber may perform degassingto remove moisture and other impurities from the air and surface of thewafers. While reference is made to the first wafer pocket 112A and thesecond wafer pocket 114A, the below description is just as applicable tothe third wafer pocket 112B and the fourth wafer pocket 114B, to thefifth wafer pocket 112C and the sixth wafer pocket 114C, or to anotherpair of wafer pockets on a single end effector. In these embodiments,the processing chamber 215 is reachable by the first wafer pocket butnot the second wafer pocket, due to the space used by the additionalchamber 220.

In the depicted embodiment, the processing chamber 215 is a quadprocessing chamber that includes a first substrate support 216A, asecond substrate support 216B, a third substrate support 216C, and afourth substrate support 216D attached to a substrate support framework218, each of which is to receive and support a wafer of multiple wafers203 for processing. The substrate support framework 218 may spin orrotate around a central axis to align different substrate supports(e.g., two substrate supports at a time) with a port 222 through whichthe long reach robot arm may reach. For example, the substrate supportsare accessible via the port 222. In embodiments, the substrate supportframework 218 is referred to as a rotatable structure for simplicity. Inthis way, one of the end effectors of the long reach robot arm 100B maybe inserted into the processing chamber 215 to deliver or pick up twowafers at a time with the two wafer pockets (when the optionaladditional chamber 220 is not present). In embodiments, the firstsubstrate support 216A has a first horizontal distance from the robotarm and the second substrate support 216B has a second horizontaldistance from the robot arm that is less than the first horizontaldistance.

Alternatively, if the additional chamber 220 is present, one of the endeffectors of the long reach robot arm 100B may be inserted through theadditional chamber 220 and into the processing chamber 215. The endeffector may deliver or pick up a first wafer to/from the processingchamber 215 (from first wafer pocket 112A) and a second wafer to/fromthe additional chamber 220 (from second wafer pocket 114A). In otherwords, when the additional chamber 220 is present, the long reach robotarm 100B is to place the first wafer from the first wafer pocket intothe processing chamber 215 and is further to place the second wafer fromthe second wafer pocket into the additional chamber 220.

With additional reference to FIG. 2A, the portion 200 of the processingsystem includes a first interim station 225A coupled to the transferchamber 205, the interim station 225A to temporarily hold wafers 203(e.g., unprocessed wafers). In embodiments, a first load lock 230A iscoupled to the interim station 225A, where the interim station 225A ispositioned between the transfer chamber 205 and the first load lock230A. The first load lock 230A may be designed to hold unprocessedwafers that have been delivered for processing by the processing systemand/or to hold wafers that have been processed by the processing system.The interim station 225A may be within reach of the first wafer pocket112A and the second wafer pocket 114A. The first load lock 230A may bewithin reach of the first wafer pocket 112A but not the second waferpocket 114A. The portion 200 the processing system may further include asecond interim station 225B and a second load lock 230B arranged similarto the first interim station 225A and the first load lock 230A, wherethe second load lock 230B may be designed to receive processed wafersfrom the long reach robot arm 100B returned from the at least oneprocessing chamber 215 and/or to receive wafers to be processed.

In embodiments, the first load lock 230A and second load lock 230B mayeach be operatively coupled to a front-end staging area, e.g., frontopening unified pods (FOUPS) having wafer cassettes. The front-endstaging area may include a factory interface robot to deliver wafersfrom the wafer cassettes of unprocessed wafers from the front-endstaging area to one of the first and second load locks 230A and 230B.The factory interface robot may further retrieve wafers from one of thefirst and second load locks 230A and 230B and deliver them to the wafercassettes in the front-end staging area.

FIG. 2B illustrates a simplified top view of a portion 250 of aprocessing system that employs two quad processing chambers and the longreach robot arm of FIG. 1C, according to one aspect of the disclosure.In embodiments, the portion 250 of the processing system may be similarto the portion 200 of the processing system illustrated in FIG. 2A,except to include a first quad processing chamber 215A and a second quadprocessing chamber 215B, each having the substrate support framework 218and substrate supports as illustrated in FIG. 2A, and without use of theadditional chamber 220. This enables use of the long reach robot arm 101with dual end effectors illustrated in FIG. 1C. In this way, the longreach robot arm 101 is able to insert four wafers at a time into the twoquad processing chambers 215A and 215B, e.g., two wafers at a time intoeach of the first quad processing chamber 215A and the second quadprocessing chamber 215B.

In other embodiments, the additional chamber 220 is employed between thetransfer chamber 205 and each of the first and second quad processingchambers 215A and 215B, such that first wafers in the first waferpockets are delivered to the first and second quad processing chamberswhile second wafers in the second wafer pockets are delivered to theadditional chambers. In one embodiment, the additional chambers aredegas chambers. The long reach robot arm 101 may, once the wafersdelivered to the degas chambers, transfer the wafers into the first andsecond quad processing chambers for processing.

The processing chambers 215A-B may be quad processing chambers as shown,or may be other types of processing chamber (e.g., with one waferstation, two wafer stations, or another number of wafer stations). Inalternative embodiments, portion 250 of the processing system mayinclude one or more additional process chambers (which may or may not bequad processing chambers) and/or may include other robot arm designsthat include dual wafer pockets as described herein. For example, thelong reach robot arm 101 may be replaced with long reach robot arm 100A(FIG. 1A) or long reach robot arm 100B (FIG. 1B) in other embodiments.

In one embodiment, for purposes of explanation, the first motor driveassembly 115C and the second drive motor assembly 115D may work inconcert with each other and to actuate the first upper arm and the firstmiddle arm 106A to move the first end effector 110D. These componentsmay move the first end effector 110D along a straight line to insert twowafers (e.g., wafers 1 and 4), one wafer on each of the first and secondwafer pockets 112D and 114D, into the first quad processing chamber215A. The two wafers may be similarly picked up and retracted out of thefirst quad processing chamber 215A.

In embodiments using a single wafer pocket on the end effectors of thelong reach robot arm 100B, wafer sequencing through the quad processingchamber as illustrated in FIG. 2A, the long reach robot arm 100Bconventionally takes 17 movements (or combination of movements) todeliver four processed wafers from the quad processing chamber to thesecond load lock 230B and three unprocessed wafers from the first loadlock 230A to the quad processing chamber. Each movement involves atleast one of the end effectors moving positions or swinging from oneposition to another, involving the biggest delay compared to in-positionmovements to pick up or set down a wafer. The high number of movementsis attributable to each of the three end effectors of the long reachrobot arm 100B only having one wafer pocket and being able to only reachto one substrate support of the substrate support framework 118.Embodiments of the present disclosure decrease the number of movementsto nine (“9”) movements (or combination of movements) that deliver fourprocessed wafers from the quad processing chamber to the second loadlock 230B and four unprocessed wafers from the first load lock 230A tothe quad processing chamber, thus significantly increasing throughput ofthe processing system. These movements are illustrated in FIG. 3A andFIG. 3B using dual-pocket end effectors. Note that the temporarilyplacing a wafer into an interim station to facilitate picking up twowafers at the same time is not counted as a separate movement becausethis is a quick in-place movement by the end effector.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a process flow method 300 using the longreach robot arm 100B of FIG. 1B within the portion 200 of the processingsystem of FIG. 2A (absent additional chamber 220), according to oneaspect of the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 3A and FIG. 2A, themethod 300 may begin with an initial state in which the first, second,and third end effectors 110A, 110B, and 11C are empty, four processedwafers await in the quad processing chamber, and a number of unprocessedwafers await in the first load lock 230A (305). The method 300 maycontinue with a second end effector 110B (e.g., with its first waferpocket) picking up a first unprocessed wafer from the first load lock230A (310). The method 300 may continue with the second end effector110B delivering the first unprocessed wafer to the first interim station225A (315). In embodiments, the first interim station 225A temporarilyholds unprocessed wafers to facilitate the end effectors of the longreach robot arm 100B concurrently picking up two wafers. This process isshown with additional clarity in FIGS. 4A-4C.

With continued reference to FIG. 3A and FIG. 2A, the method 300 maycontinue with the first end effector 110A concurrently picking up thefirst unprocessed wafer, which is in the first interim station 225A, anda second unprocessed wafer that is still in the first load lock 230A(320). The method 300 may continue with the first end effector 110Aconcurrently picking up a first and a fourth processed wafers (325). Asshown, the first wafer pocket of the first end effector 110A reaches thesecond substrate support 216B while the second wafer pocket of thesecond end effector 110B concurrently reaches the first substratesupport 216A. The second substrate support 216B and first substratesupport 216A may line up such that the first end effector 110A may beinserted approximately along a straight line and position the firstwafer pocket at the second substrate support 116B and the second waferpocket at the first substrate support 216A.

With reference to FIG. 3B and FIG. 2A, the method 300 may continue withthe second end effector 110B delivering the first and second unprocessedwafers to the quad processing chamber, e.g., placing them onto thesubstrate supports from which the first and fourth processed wafers werejust removed (330). In particular, the first wafer pocket of the secondend effector 110B reaches the second substrate support 216B while thesecond wafer pocket of the second end effector 110B reaches the firstsubstrate support 216A. The second substrate support 216B and firstsubstrate support 216A may line up such that the second end effector110B may be inserted approximately along a straight line and positionthe first wafer pocket at the second substrate support 116B and thesecond wafer pocket at the first substrate support 216A.

The method 300 may continue with the first end effector 110B picking upa third and a fourth unprocessed wafers same as was done with the firstand the second unprocessed wafers, and which will be illustrated indetail with reference to FIGS. 4A-4C (335). After the first and secondunprocessed wafers are inserted into the processing chamber 215, thequad processing chamber may rotate the substrate supports about acentral axis such that the third substrate support 216C and the fourthsubstrate support 216D are lined up with the port 222 of the processingchamber 215. More specifically, the quad processing chamber 215 mayrotate the substrate support framework 218 to position the thirdsubstrate support 216C proximate to the port 222 of the processingchamber 215 and to position the fourth substrate 216D support behind thethird substrate support 216C such that the third and fourth substratesupports are accessible via the port 222. This may include rotating thesubstrate support framework 218 to which the substrate supports areconnected by approximately 180 degrees. The substrate support framework218 may be rotated while the first end effector picks up the third andfourth unprocessed wafers.

The method 300 may continue with the third end effector 110Cconcurrently picking up the second and the third processed wafers fromthe processing chamber 215 (340). The method 300 may continue with eachof the second and third end effectors delivering each of their twoprocessed wafers (first and fourth wafers, and second and third wafers,respectively), to the second load lock 230B (350). The delivery of theprocessed wafers to the second load lock 230B may be performed in asimilar to fashion as to that illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C, but inreverse. For example, with reference to the first and fourth wafers, thefourth wafer in the first wafer pocket may be placed into the secondload lock 230B while the first wafer in the second wafer pocket may beconcurrently placed into second interim station 225B. The first endeffector 110A may then be retracted and reinserted into the secondinterim station 225B to pick up the first wafer in the second interimstation with its first wafer pocket and deliver that first wafer to thesecond load lock 230B. This process may be replicated to deliverprocessed wafers 2 and 3 to the second load lock 230 as well.

FIG. 4A illustrates a simplified side view of a load lock 425 and acoupled interim station 430 in which a first wafer is retrieved from aload lock 425, according to one aspect of the disclosure. With referenceto FIG. 4A, in one embodiment an end effector 410 of a long reach robotarm includes a first wafer pocket 412 and a second wafer pocket 414arranged similarly to the pairs of wafer pockets illustrated in FIGS.1A, 1B, and 1C. The load lock 425 may include a number of unprocessedwafers, of which are shown a first wafer 103A positioned above a secondwafer 103B with a space therebetween. The end effector 410 may beinserted into that space and pick up the first wafer 103A with the firstwafer pocket 412.

FIG. 4B illustrates the simplified side view of the load lock 425 andinterim station 430 of FIG. 4A in which the first wafer 103A istransferred, e.g., delivered, to the interim station 430. This is doneby retracting the end effector 410 and placing the first wafer 103A,which lies on the first wafer pocket 412, into the interim station 430.The interim statin 430 is to temporarily hold the first wafer 103A untilboth the first wafer 103A and the second wafer 103B are picked up (FIG.4C).

FIG. 4C illustrates the simplified side view of the load lock 425 andinterim station 430 of FIG. 4A in which the first wafer 103A and thesecond wafer 103B are jointly picked up by the end effector 410 of thelong reach robot arm, according to one aspect of the disclosure. Asillustrated, the first wafer 103A now lies on the second wafer pocket414 and the second wafer 103B now lies on the first wafer pocket 412,and can be moved concurrently to another location.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified top view of a processing system 500having multiple processing chambers, according to various aspects of thedisclosure. The processing system 500 of FIG. 5 may include a firsttransfer chamber 205A and a second transfer chamber 205B coupledtogether via a first holding chamber 535A and a second holding chamber535B where wafers may be passed between the first transfer chamber 205Aand the second transfer chamber 205B. In embodiments, the first transferchamber 205A includes a first long reach robot arm 100AA and the secondtransfer chamber 205B includes a second long reach robot arm 100AB, eachof which is modeled after the long reach robot arm 100A of FIG. 1A. Inother embodiments, the long reach robot arm in either or both of thefirst and second transfer chambers is replaced with the long reach robotarm 100B (FIG. 1B), the long reach robot arm 101 (FIG. 1C), or anotherlong reach robot arm with dual pockets.

In various embodiments, the first long reach robot arm 100AA includes afirst end effector 510A on which is defined a first wafer pocket 512Aand a second wafer pocket 514A. In the embodiments, the second longreach robot arm 100AB includes a second end effector 510B on which isdefined a third wafer pocket 512B and a fourth wafer pocket 514B.

In some disclosed embodiments, the multiple processing chambers mayinclude nine processing chambers, including a first processing chamber515A, a second processing chamber 515B, an eight processing chamber515H, and a ninth processing chamber 515I coupled to the first transferchamber 205A. The multiple processing chambers may further include athird processing chamber 515C, a fourth processing chamber 515D, a sixthprocessing chamber 515E, a sixth processing chamber 515F, and a seventhprocessing chamber 515G coupled to the second transfer chamber 205B.Other numbers of processing chambers may also be used.

Although optional, the embodiment of FIG. 5 includes multiple additionalchambers, where each additional chamber of the multiple additionalchambers is positioned between one of the first or second transferchambers and one of the multiple processing chambers. For example, afirst additional chamber 520A may be positioned between the firsttransfer chamber 205A and the first processing chamber 515A; a secondadditional chamber 520B may be positioned between the first transferchamber 205A and the second processing chamber 515B; a third additionalchamber 520C may be positioned between the second transfer chamber 205Band the third processing chamber 515C; a fourth additional chamber 520Dmay be positioned between the second transfer chamber 205B and thefourth processing chamber 515D; a fifth additional chamber 520E may bepositioned between the second transfer chamber 205B and the fifthprocessing chamber 515E; a sixth additional chamber 520F may bepositioned between the second transfer chamber 205B and the sixthprocessing chamber 515F; a seventh additional chamber 520G may bepositioned between the second transfer chamber 205B and the seventhprocessing chamber 515G; an eighth additional chamber 520H may bepositioned between the first transfer chamber 205A and the eighthprocessing chamber 515H; and/or a ninth additional chamber 520I may bepositioned between the first transfer chamber 205A and the ninthprocessing chamber 515I. In one embodiment, the multiple additionalchambers are each a degas chamber, another processing chamber, atemporary station, and/or other type of chamber. In some embodiments,each additional chamber is an additional dual-slot chamber into whichmay be stacked two wafers at different stages of processing.

Due to the mutual coupling of each of the additional chambers to arespective one of the multiple processing chambers, the end effector ofeach of the first and second long reach robot arms 100 may deliver orpick up two wafers at once from a coupled pair of an additional chamberand a processing chamber. The end effector of the first long reach robotarm 100AA may do so for the pairs of additional chambers and processingchambers coupled to the first transfer chamber 205A and the second longreach robot arm 100AB may do so for the pair of additional chambers andprocessing chambers coupled to the second transfer chamber 205B. Inembodiments, the processing system 500 may further include a first loadlock 530A and a second load lock 530B, both coupled to the firsttransfer chamber 205A, through which unprocessed wafers are passed andprocessed wafer are returned from the processing system 500. Inalternative embodiments, the processing system 500 further includes afirst interim station 525A positioned between the first load lock 530Aand the first transfer chamber 205A and a second interim station 525Bpositioned between the second load lock 530B and the first transferchamber 205A.

In embodiments, the first load lock 530A and second load lock 530B mayeach be operatively coupled to a front-end staging area, e.g., frontopening unified pods (FOUPS) having wafer cassettes. The front-endstaging area may include a factory interface robot to deliver wafersfrom the wafer cassettes of unprocessed wafers from the front-endstaging area to one of the first and second load locks 530A and 530B.The factory interface robot may further retrieve wafers from one of thefirst and second load locks 530A and 530B and deliver them to the wafercassettes in the front-end staging area.

FIG. 6A illustrates a process flow method 600 of the processing system500 of FIG. 5, according to one aspect of the disclosure. FIG. 6Billustrates aspects of the process flow method 600 of FIG. 6A from aside view, according to aspects of the disclosure. With additionalreference to FIG. 5, in embodiments, the method 600 begins with a numberof unprocessed wafers within the second load lock 530B, including atleast a first unprocessed wafer and a second unprocessed wafer (605).The method 600 may continue with the first end effector 510A of thefirst long reach robot arm 100AA picking up the first wafer in its firstwafer pocket 512A (610). The method 600 may continue with the first endeffector 510A placing the first wafer into the second interim station525B (615).

With additional reference to FIGS. 5, 6A, and 6B, the method 600 maycontinue with the first end effector 510A concurrently picking up thefirst unprocessed wafer in its second wafer pocket 514A and the secondunprocessed wafer (which is still in the second load lock 530B) (620).The method 600 may continue with the first end effector 510A placing thesecond unprocessed wafer into the first additional chamber 520A, e.g.,to be degassed (625). The method 600 may continue with the first endeffector 510, after the second unprocessed wafer is degassed, placingthe degassed second wafer into the first processing chamber 515A whilealso placing the first unprocessed wafer into the first additionalchamber 520A (630). The first end effector 510A may set down the firstunprocessed wafer within a bottom slot of the first additional dual-slotchamber 520A, as illustrated in FIG. 6B (632). The method 600 maycontinue with the first end effector 510A picking up the second wafer,now processed, with its first wafer pocket 512A (635).

In illustrated embodiments, the method 600 may continue with the firstend effector 510A placing the second processed wafer within a top slotof the first additional dual-slot chamber 520A, as illustrated in FIG.6B (637). The method 600 may continue with, after further degassing, thefirst end effector 510A picking up, from the bottom slot of the firstadditional dual-slot chamber 520A, the first degassed wafer with itsfirst wafer pocket 512A (640). The method 600 may continue with thefirst end effector 510A placing the first degassed wafer (on its firstwafer pocket) into the first processing chamber 515A (640). Once thedegassed first degassed wafer is also processed, the method 600 maycontinue with the first end effector 510A concurrently removing thefirst and second processed wafers from the first processing chamber 515Aand the first additional chamber 520A, respectively, and placing theminto the first load lock 530A, in part via the first interim chamber525A as previously discussed (not illustrated).

FIG. 7 illustrates an additional process flow method 700 of theprocessing system 500 of FIG. 5, according to one aspect of thedisclosure. With additional reference to FIG. 5, in embodiments, themethod 700 begins with a number of unprocessed wafers within the secondload lock 530B, including at least a first unprocessed wafer(illustrated as “A”) (705). In this embodiment, the additional chambersillustrated in FIG. 5 are rotation chambers adapted to rotate each wafera number of degrees, such as by 90 degrees or some other target degreesof rotation. Accordingly, the first additional chamber 520A may be afirst rotation chamber 520A for purposes of the method 700 of FIG. 7.

The method 700 may continue with the first end effector 510A picking upthe first unprocessed wafer from the second load lock 530B and placingthe first unprocessed wafer into the first processing chamber 515A forpartial processing (710). The method 700 may continue with the first endeffector 510 picking up the partially processed wafer from the firstprocessing chamber 515A and placing the partially processed wafer withinthe first rotation chamber 520A (715). The method 700 may continue withthe first rotation chamber 520A rotating the partially processed wafer90 degrees (or some other number of degrees) (720). The method 700 maycontinue with the first end effector 510A picking up and placing therotated, partially processed wafer into the first processing chamber515A for additional processing (725).

By rotating the wafer after partial processing and before finishingprocessing within the first processing chamber 515A, the wafer may bemore uniformly processed. The ability to employ the rotation chambers ismade possible by the long reach robot arms disclosed herein capable ofdelivering wafers to both the rotation chambers for rotation and to thecoupled processing chambers for additional processing. The movements ofrotation and additional processing (blocks 715, 720, and 725) may berepeated in time-divided movements of processing to provide additionaluniformity to the processed wafer.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method 800 for using an interim station(e.g., the first interim station 225A) and a dual-wafer pocket robot arm(e.g., any illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C) to pick up two wafers loaded intoa load lock chamber (e.g., the first load lock station 230A), accordingto one aspect of the disclosure. The method 800 may being with extendinga robot arm including an end effector having a first wafer pocket and asecond wafer pocket, where the first wafer pocket is located at a distalend of the end effector along a longitudinal axis and the second waferpocket is located at a second position along the longitudinal axis(810). The method 800 may continue with picking up, at the first waferpocket of the end effector, a first wafer from a load lock (820).

The method 800 may further include delivering, with the end effector,the first wafer to an interim station positioned between the load lockand a transfer chamber comprising the robot arm (830). The method 800may further include picking up, at the first wafer pocket of the endeffector, a second wafer from the load lock while concurrently pickingup, at the second wafer pocket of the end effector, the first waferlocated in the interim station (840). The method may continue withconcurrently delivering, by the end effector, the first wafer to a firstsubstrate support of at least one processing chamber and the secondwafer to a second substrate support of the at least one processingchamber (850).

The preceding description sets forth numerous specific details such asexamples of specific systems, components, methods, and so forth in orderto provide a good understanding of several embodiments of the presentdisclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, thatat least some embodiments of the present disclosure may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-knowncomponents or methods are not described in detail or are presented insimple block diagram format in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuringthe present disclosure. Thus, the specific details set forth are merelyexemplary. Particular implementations may vary from these exemplarydetails and still be contemplated to be within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout thisspecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” When the term “about” or “approximately” is usedherein, this is intended to mean that the nominal value presented isprecise within ±10%.

Although the operations of the methods herein are shown and described ina particular order, the order of operations of each method may bealtered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse orderso that certain operations may be performed, at least in part,concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructionsor sub-operations of distinct operations may be in an intermittentand/or alternating manner.

It is understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will beapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding theabove description. The scope of the disclosure should, therefore, bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A robotic handling system comprising: a transferchamber; a robot arm disposed within the transfer chamber and comprisingan end effector having a longitudinal axis, wherein the end effectorcomprises: a first wafer pocket defined within the end effector at afirst location along the longitudinal axis; and a second wafer pocketdefined within the end effector at a second location along thelongitudinal axis; a first chamber coupled to the transfer chamber,wherein the first chamber is reachable by the first wafer pocket and bythe second wafer pocket; and a second chamber coupled to the firstchamber, wherein the first chamber is positioned between the transferchamber and the second chamber, and wherein the second chamber isreachable by the first wafer pocket but not the second wafer pocket. 2.The robotic handling system of claim 1, wherein the first chamber is aninterim station and the second chamber is a processing chamber.
 3. Therobotic handling system of claim 1, wherein the first chamber is aprocessing chamber and the second chamber is an interim station.
 4. Therobotic handling system of claim 3, wherein the interim stationcomprises a first substrate support and the processing chamber comprisesa second substrate support, wherein the first substrate support has afirst horizontal distance from the robot arm and the second substratesupport has a second horizontal distance from the robot arm that is lessthan the first horizontal distance, and wherein the robot arm is to:place a first wafer from the first wafer pocket onto the first substratesupport; and place a second wafer from the second wafer pocket onto thesecond substrate support.
 5. The robotic handling system of claim 3,wherein the processing chamber comprises a first substrate support and asecond substrate support and the interim station comprises a thirdsubstrate support, wherein the third substrate support has a firsthorizontal distance from the robot arm, the second substrate support hasa second horizontal distance from the robot arm that is less than thefirst horizontal distance, and the first substrate support has a thirdhorizontal distance from the robot arm that is less than the secondhorizontal distance, and wherein the robot arm is to: place a firstwafer from the first wafer pocket onto the third substrate support; andplace a second wafer from the second wafer pocket onto one of the secondsubstrate support or the first substrate support.
 6. The robotichandling system of claim 1, wherein the first chamber is a processingchamber and the second chamber is a degas chamber.
 7. The robotichandling system of claim 1, further comprising: an interim stationcoupled to the transfer chamber, the interim station to temporarily holdwafers; and a load lock coupled to the interim station, wherein theinterim station is positioned between the transfer chamber and the loadlock, wherein the interim station is within reach of the first waferpocket and the second wafer pocket, and wherein the load lock is withinreach of the first wafer pocket but not the second wafer pocket.
 8. Therobotic handling system of claim 1, further comprising a drive motoroperatively coupled to the robot arm to actuate the robot arm, which isto cause the end effector to at least one of: concurrently deliver afirst wafer, on the first wafer pocket, and a second wafer, on thesecond wafer pocket, to the second chamber and the first chamber,respectively, which are approximately aligned along the longitudinalaxis; or concurrently withdraw the first wafer and the second wafer fromthe second chamber and the first chamber, respectively, which areapproximately aligned along the longitudinal axis.
 9. A processingsystem comprising: a transfer chamber; a processing chamber coupled tothe transfer chamber, the processing chamber to process wafers; a robotarm disposed in the transfer chamber and comprising an end effectorhaving a longitudinal axis, wherein the end effector comprises: a firstwafer pocket defined within the end effector at a first location alongthe longitudinal axis and at a distal end of the end effector; and asecond wafer pocket defined within the end effector at a second locationalong the longitudinal axis, wherein the end effector is capable ofconcurrently carrying a first wafer in the first wafer pocket and asecond wafer in the second wafer pocket; and an additional chambercoupled to the processing chamber, wherein the processing chamber ispositioned between the transfer chamber and the additional chamber,wherein the processing chamber is within reach of the first wafer pocketand the second wafer pocket, and wherein the additional chamber iswithin reach of the first wafer pocket but not the second wafer pocket.10. The processing system of claim 9, wherein the additional chamber isone of an interim station or a degas chamber.
 11. The processing systemof claim 9, wherein the additional chamber comprises a first substratesupport and the processing chamber comprises a second substrate support,wherein the first substrate support has a first horizontal distance fromthe robot arm and the second substrate support has a second horizontaldistance from the robot arm that is less than the first horizontaldistance, and wherein the robot arm is to: place the first wafer fromthe first wafer pocket onto the first substrate support; and place thesecond wafer from the second wafer pocket onto the second substratesupport.
 12. The processing system of claim 9, wherein the processingchamber comprises a first substrate support and a second substratesupport and the additional chamber comprises a third substrate support,wherein the third substrate support has a first horizontal distance fromthe robot arm, the second substrate support has a second horizontaldistance from the robot arm that is less than the first horizontaldistance, and the first substrate support has a third horizontaldistance from the robot arm that is less than the second horizontaldistance, and wherein the robot arm is to: place the first wafer fromthe first wafer pocket onto the third substrate support; and place thesecond wafer from the second wafer pocket onto one of the secondsubstrate support or the first substrate support.
 13. The processingsystem of claim 12, wherein processing chamber is a quad processingchamber comprising a rotatable structure that comprises the firstsubstrate support, the second substrate support, a fourth substratesupport, and a fifth substrate support, wherein the rotatable structureis rotatable around an axis of the quad processing chamber, and wherein:the robot arm is to pick up a third wafer in the first wafer pocket anda fourth wafer in the second wafer pocket; the quad processing chamberis to rotate the rotatable structure to position the fifth substratesupport proximate to a port of the quad processing chamber and toposition the fourth substrate support behind the fifth substrate supportsuch that the fourth substrate support is accessible via the port; andthe robot arm is to place the third wafer from the first wafer pocketonto the fourth substrate support and is further to place the fourthwafer from the second wafer pocket onto the fifth substrate support. 14.The processing system of claim 9, further comprising: an interim stationcoupled to the transfer chamber, the interim station to temporarily holdwafers; and a load lock coupled to the interim station, wherein theinterim station is positioned between the transfer chamber and the loadlock, wherein the interim station is within reach of the first waferpocket and the second wafer pocket, and wherein the load lock is withinreach of the first wafer pocket but not the second wafer pocket.
 15. Theprocessing system of claim 9, further comprising a drive motoroperatively coupled to the robot arm to actuate the robot arm, which isto cause the end effector to at least one of: concurrently deliver afirst wafer, on the first wafer pocket, and a second wafer, on thesecond wafer pocket, to the additional chamber and the processingchamber, respectively, which are approximately aligned along thelongitudinal axis; or concurrently withdraw the first wafer and thesecond wafer from the additional chamber and the processing chamber,respectively, which are approximately aligned along the longitudinalaxis.
 16. A method comprising: extending, from a transfer chamber, arobot arm comprising an end effector having a first wafer pocket and asecond wafer pocket, wherein the first wafer pocket is located at adistal end and first position of the end effector along a longitudinalaxis and the second wafer pocket is located at a second position alongthe longitudinal axis; picking up, at the first wafer pocket of the endeffector, a first wafer from a load lock; delivering the first wafer toan interim station positioned between the load lock and a transferchamber comprising the robot arm; picking up, at the first wafer pocketof the end effector, a second wafer from the load lock whileconcurrently picking up, at the second wafer pocket of the end effector,the first wafer located in the interim station; and concurrentlyplacing, with the end effector, the first wafer on a second substratesupport of a second chamber and the second wafer on a first substratesupport of a first chamber, wherein the first chamber is positionedbetween the transfer chamber and the second chamber.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the second chamber is a quad processing chambercomprising a rotatable structure that comprises the second substratesupport, a third substrate support, a fourth substrate support, and afifth substrate support, wherein the rotatable structure is rotatablearound an axis of the quad processing chamber, further comprising:picking up, with the robot arm, a third wafer in the first wafer pocketand a fourth wafer in the second wafer pocket; rotating, by the quadprocessing chamber, the rotatable structure to position the fifthsubstrate support proximate to a port of the quad processing chamber andto position the fourth substrate support behind the fifth substratesupport such that the third substrate support is accessible via theport; and placing, by the robot arm, the third wafer from the firstwafer pocket onto the fourth substrate support and the fourth wafer fromthe second wafer pocket onto the fifth substrate support.
 18. The methodof claim 16, wherein the first chamber comprises a processing chambercoupled to the transfer chamber, wherein the processing chamber isreachable by the first wafer pocket and the second wafer pocket, andwherein the second chamber is an additional chamber coupled to theprocessing chamber, the method further comprising concurrently: placingthe first wafer from the first wafer pocket into the additional chamberand onto the second substrate support; and placing the second wafer fromthe second wafer pocket into the processing chamber and onto the firstsubstrate support.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the secondchamber is a degas chamber.
 20. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising causing, by a drive motor operatively coupled to the robotarm, the end effector to at least one of: a) concurrently deliver thefirst wafer and the second wafer to respective destinations that areapproximately aligned along the longitudinal axis; or b) concurrentlywithdraw the first wafer and the second wafer from respective locationsthat are approximately aligned along the longitudinal axis.